Hillsborough Castle Agreement

Hillsborough Castle, Co Down 
Hillsborough Castle, Co Down 

The Hillsborough Agreement was an agreement reached in Northern Ireland that enabled the devolution of policing and justice powers to the Northern Ireland Executive. Concluded on 5 February 2010, it also included an provisions on controversial parades and the implementation of outstanding matters from the St Andrews Agreement.[1] Additionally, it changed the method for selecting the Minister of Justice, providing for appointment with cross-community support rather than through the D'Hondt method used for most other ministers.[2]

The agreement was signed at, and named after, Hillsborough Castle in the village of Royal Hillsborough, County Down. The Sunningdale Agreement, Belfast Agreement, and the St Andrews Agreement were also negotiated in the places from which they took their names.

Implementation

Implementation of the Hillsborough Castle Agreement[3][4]
Section Implementation
Policing and Justice The agreement required a resolution under a successful cross-community vote on 9 March 2010.[4] This vote was successfully held.[5]

The agreement required that the UK Government detail a timetable for devolving policing and justice functions by 12 April 2010.[4] The statutory instrument was laid before parliament on 31 March 2010, taking effect on 12 April 2010.[6][7] The Department of Justice was established by the Department of Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2010.[6]

Parades While a consultation was held on the Public Assemblies, Parades and Protests Bill 2010, it was not introduced.[8]
Improving Executive Functions The establishment of an Efficiency Review Panel was announced by the Office of the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister on 9 April 2010.[9] It had not been established by March 10 March 2011.[9]
Outstanding Executive Business The agreement required the establishment of a working group on outstanding Executive business.[4]

By September 2010, the working group met 12 times.[10]

Outstanding St Andrews Review The agreement required the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to review outstanding issues from the St Andrews Agreement.[4] One issue was an Irish Language Act, which was later passed as the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act 2022.[4][11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Hillsborough Castle Agreement". GOV.UK. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  2. ↑ "The Hillsborough Agreement | Northern Ireland Assembly Education Service". education.niassembly.gov.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  3. ↑ Crawley, William (5 February 2010). "Hillsborough Castle Agreement: The Full Text". BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 October 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Policing and justice plan: Key points". BBC News. 5 February 2010. Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  5. ↑ "The Assembly - Official Report Tuesday 9 March 2010". Northern Ireland Assembly archive. Archived from the original on 24 April 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  6. 1 2 Goldring, Judena (10 March 2011). "Annual Report and Accounts: For the year ended 31 March 2010" (PDF). GOV.UK. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 May 2025. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  7. ↑ "Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Devolution of Policing and Justice Functions) Order 2010", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 31 March 2010, SI 2010/976, retrieved 8 June 2025
  8. ↑ "Parades and Protests in Northern Ireland" (PDF). Northern Ireland Human Rights Law Commission. 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  9. 1 2 McCaffrey, Ray; Egerton, Leigh (19 October 2011). "Update paper on size of the Assembly" (PDF). Northern Ireland Assembly. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  10. ↑ "Briefing from the First Minister and deputy First Minister". Northern Ireland Assembly. Archived from the original on 3 April 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  11. ↑ Meredith, Robbie; McCormack, Jayne (5 March 2025). "UN criticises failure to appoint language commissioners". BBC News. Archived from the original on 5 March 2025. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
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